Reference / EV charging / Overview

EV charging

Home charging is mostly a solved problem. The interesting questions are which tariff, which controller and what to do when you cannot charge at home.

Home chargers

The major UK home chargers cluster around 7 kW single-phase. The differences that matter are smart-tariff compatibility, cable type and whether the unit supports proper dynamic load management on shared circuits.

Smart tariffs

Octopus Intelligent is the established UK leader. Several alternatives are catching up but each requires you to give the supplier API access to your car or charger. We catalogue the small-print of each.

Install

A compliant install requires DNO notification (or application if your supply is too small for the charger). Cable run, fuse rating and earth bonding are where most installer corner-cutting happens.

Public networks

The UK public charging landscape consolidated noticeably in 2025. Reliability is now mostly a function of which network owns the charger, not which model it is.